Gaming System with Wager Location

ABSTRACT

A gaming system ( 1 ) comprises a gaming server ( 2 ), one or more player stations ( 3 ) and a communication network ( 4 ) capable of providing communication between the gaming server ( 2 ) and each player station ( 3 ). Each player station ( 3 ) is located remotely from the gaming server ( 2 ) and is capable of rendering to a player a simulation one or more games and of enabling the player to place a wager on a turn of any one of the games of chance.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a gaming system and, more particularly, to agaming system that can be used by a plurality of players to play any oneof a selection of available games on which wagers may be placed. Theinvention extends to a method of operation of the gaming system.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Gaming systems are known that enable a plurality of players to playseparate instances of a game of chance. Each player is able to place awager on each turn of his own particular instance of the game. Anoutcome of the turn of the game is determined by the system anddisplayed to the player and the system settles the wager as a functionof the outcome according to the rules of the game of chance beingplayed.

Such prior art gaming systems may be, at a simplest level, one or morestand-alone gaming machines that can be located in a land-based casinoor some other entertainment venue such as a betting shop. In thisinstance, the turnover and gross win arising from each gaming machinemay be recorded manually and logged by an operator of the gaming system.In another prior art gaming system, the plurality of gaming machineslocated at the entertainment venue may each be linked by means of alocal-area network (“LAN”) to an administration facility thatautomatically records the financial performance of each gaming machine.It is also known to extend this latter type of topology outside theconfines of a single entertainment venue and to have gaming machinesthat are geographically dispersed, some of which may be located in ruralor disadvantaged areas. In this particular topology, the gaming machinesare linked to the administration facility by means of a wide-areanetwork (“WAN”).

It is a disadvantage of such prior art gaming systems that the financialperformance of the system can only be determined and analysed to aresolution that corresponds to each individual gaming machine. It isdesirable to analyse the performance of a gaming system according tocriteria other than individual gaming machine.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a gaming system, and amethod of operation of a gaming system that will, at least partially,alleviate the abovementioned difficulties and disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a gaming system,comprising: a gaming server;

a plurality of player stations remote from the gaming server, eachplayer station

being capable of rendering to a player a simulation of at least one gameof chance and enabling the player to place a wager on a turn of the atleast one game of chance; and

a communication network capable of providing communication between thegaming server and the plurality of player stations characterised in that

the gaming server records transaction data relating to each wager placedby any player on each turn of the at least one game of chance, thetransaction data including at least the size of the wager, the time anddate of the wager, an outcome of the turn of the game of chance, ageographic location of the player station on which the wager was placedby the player, and a status of the wager, the status being successful ifthe outcome of the turn of the game is a favourable outcome, and thestatus being unsuccessful if the outcome of the turn of the game is nota favourable outcome.

Further features of the invention provide for each player station tohave a unique identification code, for the geographic location of anyplayer station to be stored in a player station database associated withthe gaming server, the player station database being indexed accordingto the unique identification codes of the plurality of player stations,and for the gaming server to derive the geographic location of anyplayer station from the player station database by means of the uniqueidentification code of that player station as an index.

Still further features of the invention provide for the gaming server tomaintain a register of all players who utilise the gaming system to playthe at least one game of chance, for the register to store, for eachplayer, a player identity and a corresponding unique code of at leastone player identification token, for the player identification token tobe any one of an identification card, a driver's licence, a credit cardor a debit card, and for each player terminal to require any player tobe identified before commencing play of the at least one game of chance,the transaction data relating to any wager including an identity of theplayer who placed that wager.

Yet further features of the invention provide for the gaming system toinclude an administration facility communicable with the gaming serverby means of the communication network, the administration facility beingconfigurable to determine at least one of:

(a) a total gross win or loss for each individual player in theregister; and

(b) a total gross win or loss for each one of the plurality of playerstations of the gaming system, and for the administration facility to bestill further configurable to determine at least one of:

(c) a gross win or loss for all player stations whose geographiclocation falls within a selectable geographical area; and

(d) a total gross win or loss for all the player stations together.

There is further provided for the administration facility to accumulate,in an accumulation account, a proportion of all wagers placed by anyplayer on any of the plurality of player stations whose geographiclocation falls within a selectable geographic area, and for theadministration facility to reimburse, out of the contents of theaccumulation account, a community in the selectable geographical area inrespect of the gross loss at all player stations whose geographiclocation falls within the selected geographic area, alternatively forthe administration facility to reimburse the community in respect of atotal of all wagers placed at any player station whose geographiclocation falls within the selected geographic area.

There is further provided for any player station to accept wagers in oneof a number of different standard wager denominations, each one of thenumber of different standard wager denominations being a predeterminedintegral or fractional number of units of credit, for the player stationdatabase to store, for each player station, a corresponding standardwager denomination for wagers placed by the player at that playerstation, and for the administration facility to derive the wagerdenomination of any particular player station from the player stationdatabase by means of the unique identification code of that playerstation as an index.

There is still further provided for each player station to have aprocessor and a display monitor on which the simulation of the at leastone game of chance is rendered to the player, for the player station tohave any one or more of a coin acceptor, a banknote validator, a keypadand a printer, and for the communication network to be the Internet.

The invention extends to a method of operation of a gaming system,comprising the steps of:

providing a gaming server, a plurality of player stations remote fromthe gaming server, and a communication network capable of providingcommunication between the gaming server and the plurality of playerstations;

rendering to a player, on a player station, a simulation of at least onegame of chance;

enabling the player to place a wager on the turn of the at least onegame of chance at the player station;

determining an outcome of the turn of the at least one game of chance;and

recording transaction data relating to each wager placed by the playeron the turn of the at least one game of chance, the transaction dataincluding at least the size of the wager, the time and date of thewager, an outcome of the turn of the game of chance, a geographiclocation of the player station on which the wager was placed by theplayer, and a status of the wager, the status being successful if theoutcome of the turn of the game is a favourable outcome, and the statusbeing unsuccessful if the outcome of the turn of the game is not afavourable outcome.

There is also provided for assigning a unique identification code toeach player station, for storing a geographic location of any playerstation in a player station database, the player station database beingindexed according to the unique identification codes of the plurality ofplayer stations, and for deriving the geographic location of any playerstation from the player station database by means of the uniqueidentification code of that player station as an index.

There is further provided for maintaining a register of all players whoutilise the gaming system to play the at least one game of chance, forstoring, for each player in the register, a corresponding playeridentity and a corresponding unique code of at least one playeridentification token, and for requiring a player to be identified beforecommencing play of the at least one game of chance, and including in thetransaction data relating to any wager, an identity of the player whoplaced that wager.

There is still further provided for configuring the gaming system todetermine at least one of:

(a) a total gross win or loss for each individual player in theregistry; and

(b) a total gross win or loss for each one of the plurality of playerstations of the gaming system, and for still further configuring thegaming system to determine any one of

(c) a gross win or loss for all player stations whose geographiclocation falls within a selectable geographical area; and

(d) a total gross win or loss for all the player stations together.

There is yet further provided for accumulating, in an accumulationaccount, a proportion, preferably three percent, of all wagers placed byany player on any one of the plurality of player stations whosegeographic location falls within a selected geographic area, forreimbursing, out of the contents of the accumulation account, acommunity in the selected geographic area in respect of the gross lossat all player stations whose geographic location falls within theselected geographic area, alternatively for reimbursing the community inrespect of a total of all wagers placed at any player station whosegeographic location falls within the selected geographic area.

There is also provided for accepting wagers in one of a number ofdifferent denominations, each one of the number of differentdenominations being a number of predetermined integral or fractionalnumber of units of credit, for storing, for each player station, acorresponding denomination for wagers accepted at that player station,and for deriving the wager denomination of any particular player stationfrom the player station database by means of the unique identificationcode of that player station as an index.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below, by way ofexample only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is schematic diagram of a gaming system according to theinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a player station of the gamingsystem of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a gaming system is indicated generally by referencenumeral (1).

This embodiment of the invention will be described with particularreference to a game of chance that is a single-player 3-reel video slotsgame. It is to be clearly understood, however, that the inventionextends to include the use of other types of single-player games ofchance, such as video poker, for example.

The gaming system (1) includes a gaming server (2), and a plurality ofplayer stations (3), only one of which is shown, located remotely fromthe gaming server (2). Communication between the player stations and thegaming server (2) is provided by means of a communication network (4)that is, in this embodiment, the Internet. Each player station (3)includes an Internet-enabled processor (5), a display monitor (6), anumeric keypad (7), a pushbutton panel (8), a coin acceptor (9), abanknote validator (10) and a thermal printer (11). The Internet-enabledprocessor (5) operates under a Windows XT operating system, which iswell known and commercially available from the Microsoft Corporation ofSeattle, Wash., USA. The gaming server (2) operates under the Windows NToperating system, which is also a product of the Microsoft Corporation.

The gaming system (1) enables a player to play a game of 3-reel videoslots at any one of the player stations (3). A number of differentplayers may play the game of video slots simultaneously, with eachplayer playing from a different player station (3). It is anticipatedthat the player stations (3) would be placed at different locationsthroughout a geographic region, such as entertainment venues, shoppingcentres, games arcades, cinemas, night clubs, betting shops and thelike. Each player station (3) is identified by a unique identificationcode and the geographical location of each player station is known. Thegeographical location need not be known accurately by means ofgeographical co-ordinates, but merely at the level of village, or townand suburb, district, region and province.

The gaming system (1) includes, further, an administration facility (14)in the form of an application web server, which is communicable with thegaming server (2) by means of the communication network (4). Thedetailed operation of the application web server (14) will be outlinedin the description that follows.

The Internet-enabled processor (5) in each player station (3) executes arespective client process (12) in the form of a computer program thatrenders to a player a simulation of the three-reel video slots game onthe display monitor (6) of the player station. The gaming server (2)executes a server process (13), which is a further computer program thatgenerates random events that determine the outcome of turns of the videoslots game. The operation of the client and server processes (12 and 13)will be described in greater detail in the description that follows. Theserver process (13) generates, upon request of the client process (12),a random event that determines the outcome of a turn of the video slotsgame, in particular, the outcome of a spin of the reels of thethree-reel video slots game in the player's particular turn of the game.The client process (12) of the particular player station (3) obtains theresult of the random event from the gaming server (2), along thecommunication network (4), and displays the outcome of the turn of thegame to the player on the display monitor (6) of the player station (3)in an intelligible manner, by simulating on the monitor an animation ofthree spinning reels that come to rest at appropriate indexed positionscorresponding to the generated outcome.

The client process (13) also allows the player to make a wager on a turnof the game of video slots, and to effect decisions that determine theprogress of the game, by using appropriate buttons on the pushbuttonpanel (8) of the player station (3). In this particular embodiment, thepushbutton panel button has buttons labelled “BET 1”, “BET MAX” and“SPIN”, respectively. The use of these pushbuttons, which is the same asthat found in a conventional, freestanding slot machine is well known inthe art and will not, for this reason, be described here in detail.

The gaming server (2) maintains a register, or player database (15), ofplayers who have used the gaming system (1) to play the game of videoslots. The player database (15) contains, for each player, an identityof the player, a corresponding unique code of an identification tokenbelonging to the player, and a corresponding credit account balance. Theplayer identification token can be any one of an identification card, adriver's licence, a credit card or a debit card, the only requirementbeing the uniqueness of the code of the player's identification token.In order to utilise the gaming system (1) to play the game of videoslots, a player is required to first identify himself or herself beforebeing allowed to commence wagering and playing at a player station (3).A first-time user of the gaming system (1) is required to complete aregistration process and have his particulars added to the playerdatabase (15) before such a player is eligible to commence wagering andplay. The player database (15) is indexed by player identification code.

The client process (12) of a player station (3) enables a player toplace a wager on a turn of the three-reel slots game by means of the“BET 1” and “BET MAX” buttons on the pushbutton panel (8). The wagersplaced by players utilising the gaming system (1) are made with creditpurchased by such players prior to their participation in the game. Forthis purpose, a player may purchase credit by inserting coins in thecoin acceptor (9) of a player station (3) and by inserting banknotesinto the banknote validator (10) of the player station. Whenever aplayer purchases credit in this manner, the gaming server (2) creditsthat player's credit account balance in the player database (15) with anamount equivalent to the quantity of credit purchased by the player. Theplayer's credit balance is displayed on the display monitor (6) of theplayer station (3) at all times during a player's playing session. Eachplayer station (3) accepts wagers in only one denomination. Variousstandard wager denominations are supported by the gaming system (1),each standard denomination being an integral or a fractional number ofunits of credit. In this particular embodiment, the standard wagerdenominations are 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 5 units of credit.

The gaming server (2) also maintains a player station database (17) thatcontains player station data corresponding to each player station (3) inthe gaming system (1). The player station data includes the uniqueidentification code of a player station (3), a standard wagerdenomination of the player station, and a corresponding geographicallocation of that player station. The player station database (17) isindexed by player station identification code.

The server process (13) in the gaming server (2) is capable ofdetermining whether any wager placed by any player on a turn of thethree-reel video slots game is successful or unsuccessful according tothe rules of the game. In particular, once a player has placed a wageron a turn of the game, and the gaming server has determined acorresponding outcome of that turn of the game, the server processdetermines whether the wager is successful or unsuccessful in thefollowing manner: the game of video slots has a plurality of possibleoutcomes, of which one or more may be favourable outcomes with theremainder being unfavourable outcomes. Each one of the favourableoutcomes causes the player to win a prize of a corresponding quantity ofcredit. The gaming server (2) determines the status of a wager to besuccessful if the outcome of the turn of the game is a favourableoutcome, and unsuccessful if the outcome of the turn of the game is nota favourable outcome. The gaming server (2) settles each successfulplayer wager by crediting the credit account of the player by an amountof credit equivalent to the prize won by the player.

A player can terminate his playing session by activating a “CASHOUT”button on the pushbutton panel (8) of his player station, whereupon theclient process (12) of the player station causes a bar-coded ticket tobe printed on the thermal printer (11) of the player station. The playercan then present the bar-coded ticket to an operator of the gamingsystem (1) and exchange it for monetary value equivalent to the balanceof the credit in the player's credit account.

The gaming server (2) also maintains a transaction database (16) oftransaction data relating to any wager on the game by any player at anyplayer station (3). The transaction data includes, for each turn of thegame, a player identification code of the player, a size of the wager, atime and date when the turn of the game occurred, a player stationidentification code of a player station (3) at which the player isplaying, an outcome of the turn of the game, a status of the wager, thestatus being successful if the outcome of the turn of the game is afavourable outcome, and unsuccessful if the outcome of the turn of thegame is not a favourable outcome, and a corresponding prize won by theplayer if the status of the wager is successful.

The application web server (14) executes a management informationsoftware program (18), which can be configured to analyse thetransaction data in the transaction database (16) and to producemanagement reports according to the needs of particular application. Inparticular, the management information software program (18) can beconfigured to produce a report on net wins or losses per player in theplayer register, per single player station (3), per group of playerstations whose geographical location falls within a selected geographicarea, or for the gaming system (1) as a whole. It will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that it will be necessary for the applicationweb server (14) to interrogate, via the gaming server (2), the contentsof each of the player database (15), the transaction database (16) andthe player station database (17) to produce management reports of thetype mentioned above.

The management information software program (18) of the application webserver (14) can also be configured to accumulate a proportion, in thisembodiment 3%, of all player wagers in an accumulation account (notshown). The contents of the accumulation account (not shown) may beutilised by an operator of the gaming system (1) for purposes of socialresponsibility. As an illustration, the management information softwareprogram (18) may be configured to report on net win for all playerstations falling within a predetermined underprivileged area, and theoperator of the gaming system (1) may elect to reimburse theunderprivileged community out of the social responsibility account forall losses incurred by any players at player stations falling within theunderprivileged area. It will be further appreciated by those skilled inthe art that the management information software program (18) may alsobe configured to produce reports for the purpose of making fiscalpayments to a competent tax authority.

Numerous modifications are possible to this embodiment without departingfrom the scope of the invention. In particular, the game of chanceoffered for play be the gaming system (1) may be a game of video pokeror video blackjack instead of the game of video slots described above.Alternatively, gaming system (1) may offer a plurality different ofgames for play at any player station (3), a player being able to select,from a menu, any one of the available games for play. Further, a touchscreen may replace the display monitor (6) on each display station (3),permitting the pushbutton panel on each display station to be dispensedwith. Still further, the player identification code may be issued by anoperator of the gaming system (1) instead of being derived from a playeridentification token. Yet further, the system may be such as to requirea player to purchase credit at a player station (3) by means of apayment token such as a credit card or a debit card, instead of by meansof coins or banknotes as described above. As a further alternative, aplayer may be required to purchase credit from a vending station. It isenvisaged that, in this scenario, the player would be presented with avoucher encoded with an amount of credit purchased by the player, andthe player would then transfer the credit to the player's credit accountby keying in the voucher code by means of the numeric keypad (7) on theplayer station (3). Finally, the application web server (14) may beconfigured to derive game statistics from the transaction database (16)that can be used to verify the performance, stability and fairness ofany game offered by the gaming system (1).

The invention therefore provides a gaming system that enables thedetermination of wins and losses by players according to geographiclocation and that permits the implementation of social responsibilityprojects for disadvantaged communities.

1. A gaming system, comprising: a gaming server; a plurality of playerstations remote from the gaming server, each player station beingcapable of rendering to a player a simulation of at least one game ofchance and enabling the player to place a wager on a turn of the atleast one game of chance; and a communication network capable ofproviding communication between the gaming server and the plurality ofplayer stations characterised in that the gaming server recordstransaction data relating to each wager placed by any player on eachturn of the at least one game of chance, the transaction data includingat least the size of the wager, the time and date of the wager, anoutcome of the turn of the game of chance, a geographic location of theplayer station on which the wager was placed by the player, and a statusof the wager, the status being successful if the outcome of the turn ofthe game is a favourable outcome, and the status being unsuccessful ifthe outcome of the turn of the game is not a favourable outcome.
 2. Agaming system as claimed in claim 1 in which each player station has aunique identification code.
 3. A gaming system as claimed in either oneof claims 1 or 2 in which the geographic location of any player stationis stored in a player station database associated with the gamingserver, the player station database being indexed according to theunique identification codes of the plurality of player stations.
 4. Agaming system as claimed in claim 3 in which the gaming server derivesthe geographic location of any player station from the player stationdatabase by means of the unique identification code of that playerstation as an index.
 5. A gaming system as claimed in any one of thepreceding claims in which the gaming server maintains a register of allplayers who utilise the gaming system to play the at least one game ofchance.
 6. A gaming system as claimed in claim 5 in which the registerstores, for each player, a player identity and a corresponding uniquecode of at least one player identification token.
 7. A gaming system asclaimed in claim 6 in which the player identification token is any oneof an identification card, a driver's licence, a credit card or a debitcard.
 8. A gaming system as claimed in either one of claims 6 or 7 inwhich each player terminal requires any player to be identified beforecommencing play of the at least one game of chance, and in which thetransaction data relating to any wager includes an identity of theplayer who placed that wager.
 9. A gaming system as claimed in claim 5that includes an administration facility communicable with the gamingserver by means of the communication network, the administrationfacility being configurable to determine, at least one of: (a) a totalgross win or loss for each individual player in the register; and (b) atotal gross win or loss for each one of the plurality of player stationsof the gaming system.
 10. A gaming system as claimed in claim 9 in whichthe administration facility is still further configurable to determineat least one of: (c) a gross win or loss for all player stations whosegeographic location falls within a selectable geographical area; and (d)a total gross win or loss for all the player stations together.
 11. Agaming system as claimed in either one of claims 9 or 10 in which theadministration facility accumulates, in an accumulation account, aproportion of all wagers placed by any player on any of the plurality ofplayer stations whose geographic location falls within a selectablegeographic area.
 12. A gaming system as claimed in claim 11 in which theadministration facility reimburses, out of the contents of theaccumulation account, a community in the selectable geographical area inrespect of the gross loss at all player stations whose geographiclocation falls within the selectable geographic area.
 13. A gamingsystem as claimed in claim 11 in which the administration facilityreimburses the community in respect of a total of all wagers placed atany player station whose geographic location falls within the selectablegeographic area.
 14. A gaming system as claimed in any one of thepreceding claims in which any player station accepts wagers in one of anumber of different standard wager denominations, each one of the numberof different standard wager denominations being a predetermined integralor fractional number of units of credit.
 15. A gaming system as claimedin claim 14 that the player station database stores, for each playerstation, a corresponding standard wager denomination for wagers placedby the player at that player station.
 16. A gaming system as claimed inclaim 15 in which the administration facility derives the wagerdenomination of any particular player station from the player stationdatabase by means of the unique identification code of that playerstation as an index.
 17. A gaming system as claimed in any one of thepreceding claims in which each player station has a processor and adisplay monitor on which the simulation of the at least one game ofchance is rendered to the player.
 18. A gaming system as claimed inclaim 17 in which the player station has any one or more of a coinacceptor, a banknote validator, a keypad and a printer.
 19. A gamingsystem as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which thecommunication network is the Internet.
 20. A method of operation of agaming system, comprising the steps of: providing a gaming server, aplurality of player stations remote from the gaming server, and acommunication network capable of providing communication between thegaming server and the plurality of player stations; rendering to aplayer, on a player station, a simulation of at least one game ofchance; enabling the player to place a wager on the turn of the at leastone game of chance at the player station; determining an outcome of theturn of the at least one game of chance; and recording transaction datarelating to each wager placed by the player on the turn of the at leastone game of chance, the transaction data including at least the size ofthe wager, the time and date of the wager, an outcome of the turn of thegame of chance, a geographic location of the player station on which thewager was placed by the player, and a status of the wager, the statusbeing successful if the outcome of the turn of the game is a favourableoutcome, and the status being unsuccessful if the outcome of the turn ofthe game is not a favourable outcome.
 21. A method as claimed in claim20 in which a unique identification code is assigned to each playerstation.
 22. A method as claimed in either one of claims 20 or 21 inwhich a geographic location of any player station is stored in a playerstation database, the player station database being indexed according tothe unique identification codes of the plurality of player stations. 23.A method as claimed in claim 22 in which the geographic location of anyplayer station is derived from the player station database by means ofthe unique identification code of that player station as an index.
 24. Amethod as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 23 that includes a furtherstep of maintaining a register of all players who utilise the gamingsystem to play the at least one game of chance.
 25. A method as claimedin claim 24 that includes a step of storing, for each player in theregister, a corresponding player identity and a corresponding uniquecode of at least one player identification token.
 26. A method asclaimed in claim 25 in which a player is required to be identifiedbefore commencing play of the at least one game of chance, and in whichan identity of the player who placed a wager is included in thetransaction data relating to that wager.
 27. A method as claimed inclaim 24 in which the gaming system is configured to determine at leastone of: (a) a total gross win or loss for each individual player in theregistry; and (b) a total gross win or loss for each one of theplurality of player stations of the gaming system.
 28. A method asclaimed in claim 27 in which the gaming system is still furtherconfigured to determine at least one of: (c) a gross win or loss for allplayer stations whose geographic location falls within a selectedgeographical area; and (d) a total gross win or loss for all the playerstations together.
 29. A method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 28which includes a step of accumulating, in an accumulation account, aproportion of all wagers placed by any player on any one of theplurality of player stations whose geographic location falls within aselected geographic area.
 30. A method as claimed in claim 29 whichincludes a step of reimbursing, out of the contents of the accumulationaccount, a community in the selected geographic area in respect of thegross loss at all player stations whose geographic location falls withinthe selected geographic area.
 31. A method as claimed in claim 29 inwhich a community is reimbursed, out of the contents of the accumulationaccount, in respect of a total of all wagers placed at any playerstation whose geographic location falls within the selected geographicarea.
 32. A method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 31 in whichwagers are accepted in one of a number of different denominations, eachone of the number of different denominations being a number ofpredetermined integral or fractional number of units of credit.
 33. Amethod as claimed in claim 32 that includes a step of storing, for eachplayer station, a corresponding denomination for wagers accepted at thatplayer station.
 34. A method as claimed in claim 33 that includes a stepof deriving the wager denomination of any particular player station fromthe player station database by means of the unique identification codeof that player station as an index.